Hello, fellow readers! And welcome back to Shadow of Harmony! So, what do we have:
JeaSonDash: We're about to find out!
DemonBoi115: I plan on it, my man! Thanks for the support!
Guest: *after reading translation* Funny you say that.
With that said, let's continue!
Chapter 6: Decisions to Make
Equestria (Canterlot)
The mirror again finds itself glowing for a moment before letting out a blue hedgehog, who then lands face first on the floor.
"Ow." His muffled voice lets out before lifting his face, only to see darkness still. "Where am I?"
The green emerald in his hand glows in response, lighting up to reveal that he was in a room with no windows and double doors as its entrance. Getting up to his feet, he goes right for the doors and turns the knob... only to find it locked.
"A dead end already?" He comments, finding it odd for such a destination.
He thought of picking the lock or just breaking it down, casually tossing and catching the emerald during this moment, before realizing he was holding his solution.
"Well, time for practice." Right after saying that, he holds the emerald firmly before calling out:
"Chaos Control."
In a flash of light, he warps from the room into a hall right outside it. Thankfully, it was lit better due to actually having windows, letting in the setting sunlight from outside. The place was now reminding him of an medieval setting, which raises more questions before hearing a voice outside another set of doors at the other end.
"What's the big deal with the mirror again?"
Sonic leans his ear against said door to listen in better.
"It's able to access other worlds. Don't know how, but it can." Another voice answers the question.
"Wait, really? How is that possible?" A brief pause followed that before the other voice deadpans a response, "I just told you."
Sonic smirks at that, but tries not to snicker since he's doing his best to stay stealthy.
"Oh. So, we're here to guard it because..."
"Two nights ago, the mirror actually let out somepony from another world. I didn't hear much other than he didn't stay for long."
"Do you know what he was?"
"Uh... I think a porcupine or something."
He was about to question the term 'somepony', but pushes that back as the last part got his attention. Considering how many times he was mistaken for that, they may be likely talking about Shadow. Though, they also said he isn't here anymore. Maybe the emerald sent him to a previous location he was at?
"Then, wouldn't it be dangerous to have this lying around?"
"Why do you think we have barriers on the doors?"
Sonic turns to the doors that contain the mirror behind him, barely seeing said barrier surrounding it with the same going for the windows due to seeing it from a different angle now.
"If they somehow open, it triggers an alarm and notifies the captain immediately. And even then, they made sure to be thorough and just did it for the entire room."
He'll admit, these guards are doing their job effectively. A realization then came to him and turns around to the doors he just leaned on, "Uh oh."
Due to his little mistake, he then hears the guards outside. "Oh, speaking of the captain."
Almost reflexively, he runs towards the nearest window and jumps, the emerald making him teleport again right as the doors open, leading to the familiar captain of the guard looking around the room to see nothing.
"Could have sworn the barrier was disturbed..." Shining mutters before looking out the windows on both sides.
It was really brief, but he may have caught a blue blur going over the nearby rooftop. Sonic has reached the ground as he hears voices from afar, most likely alerting the rest of the joint.
"I don't mean any harm. That's why I'm leaving." He quips mainly to himself before running off into the city district.
He wants to stay and take in the sights, but he honestly didn't want to deal with anymore militaristic forces after the ARK fiasco. Though, he does see a big difference in this new world he's arrived in. Instead of humans or even species like him, there were colorful horses in their place.
"Huh. Didn't expect this." He was honestly put off guard by this, but snaps out of it as he continues on. "Good, makes this world way more interesting to explore!"
He was rather impressed by the various structures from tall towers to fancy houses until reaching what looks to be a train station, something he's more familiar with. Stopping in his tracks, he then goes over to the booth before seeing a rack of tourist pamphlets for 'Equestria'.
"The land of horses. Huh, fitting." He mutters to himself before taking one himself and puts his emerald in his 'hammerspace'.
Opening it up, it shows the various locations that fills said continent. Though, he starts to chuckle at the various horse puns some of them had.
"Neighagra Falls, Ponyville, Manehattan..." He then looks more closely at the descriptions each one has, "Big bustling city, nice rural village... barrel ride?"
Turns out, the first one has this attraction where barrels are used to allow ponies to 'ride the waterfalls'. He may not be a big fan of water, but the ride does sound cool.
"I'm currently in Canterlot, so if I follow the train tracks to my... right, I should see it eventually." He deduces before folding it back up and also putting it in his 'hammerspace'.
Without even waiting for the train to arrive, he then hops on the tracks that obviously caught the attention of nearby ponies before watching him run off in a burst of speed, thanks to his 'mach speed' power from the blue gem.
"Wasn't that with the princess's student?" One of them asked their friend.
"I thought it had black fur." Their friend answers, "And I think red streaks too."
"Just where are these coming from?"
Equestria (Ponyville)
The sun has now officially set to let the night out as Twilight was pacing back and forth with Spike watching her.
"Why does this have to be so hard? No matter who I choose, the others will be disappointed! And even if I gave away my own ticket, that still won't be enough!" The former was understandably frustrated at the current predicament.
"So, what are you gonna do?" Spike asks her, which may as well sound like an ultimatum to her at this point.
Twilight remains quiet for a moment before admitting, "If all of us can't go, then..."
At this point, she didn't realize how late it was until seeing the night sky outside the window, "Oh..."
A knock on the door was heard soon after, making her nervous as Spike goes to answer it. Opening said door, her friends were there with Applejack being the first to speak.
"Howdy, Spike. May we come in?" She asks with a nervous smile.
"Sure." The young dragon does just that, allowing the five to enter the library as Twilight waits nervously to tell them the bad news.
Though, it looks like they had something to say first.
"Before you tell us your decision, we must apologize for our behavior today." Rarity starts with, "It was rather unfair of us to force you into such a situation."
"After Shadow's little outburst, we had a little chat with each other and saw how... overzealous we were for the Gala." Rainbow follows up on.
"We were so excited to finally be able to go, but we didn't realize how unhappy we were making you." Pinkie admits.
"So um, we are really sorry for all the trouble." Fluttershy finishes for them, "And we'll be fine with whoever you decide to take."
Well, this should make it easier. Twilight nervously smiles as it was her turn to speak, "O-Oh, that's great to hear. Mainly because I decided... uh..."
Glancing away from them, her eyes land on Spike who simply gives her a simple nod of assurance. After a deep breath, she looks right back at them.
"I decided that we won't go."
The five are understandably confused by this, "Say what now?"
"No matter who goes, we'll just be miserable since all of us couldn't attend the Gala. Right?" She makes a point as the others hesitantly agree with her.
"Finally."
The seven heard a familiar voice say before seeing Shadow drop down, most likely from the little alcove the library had over the bookshelves.
"How long were you there?" Twilight questions.
"Long enough." He simply said in response, "Now that you've decided, what are you gonna do with the tickets?"
"Spike." She calls out to him, getting his attention. "Take a note."
The young dragon pulls out a quill and paper, "Ready."
Shadow pulls out the two tickets for Twilight to take as she starts:
Dear Princess Celestia,
I've learned that one of the joys that friendship brings is the blessings you can share. But when you are grateful for more than what you currently have, it becomes harder to express them back. And so I appreciate the invitation, but I'll be returning both tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala.
Spike finishes the last sentence as she slips the tickets in, the others agreeing with her decision as Spike then rolls the paper into a scroll and sends it to the princess.
"Well, that's done." The dragon points out.
"Good. I've gotten a headache from all of this..." Shadow utters before seeing Spike's cheeks puff up.
The others move back as he lets out a puff of fire, which forms itself into a scroll that Spike grabs out of mid-air.
"A response already?" The girls were confused by this as he opens it to read:
My faithful student,
Firstly, I must apologize for the confusion. When I thought about you coming to the Gala, it may have slipped my mind about your new friends in Ponyville. I know it's been only a day, but my daily duties say otherwise.
Secondly, while it may have taken a bit, I managed to get the rest for all of you. Hope you all enjoy the Grand Galloping Gala!
Upon saying the last sentence, eight tickets pop out of the letter at the bottom. Most of them were taken aback by this as Shadow wasn't sure how he should feel about his gut feeling being right.
"Wait, eight!? That means ALL of us can go!" Pinkie cheers, which the others do the same.
The tickets then floats to each of them, the last two going to Spike and Shadow. The former was a bit excited while the latter was honestly confused.
"She wants me to go too?" He mutters as he simply stares at his ticket.
"Oh, you're going to love it!" Pinkie reassures him, "Take it from me that parties are so much fun!"
Shadow kinda figured after the celebration party they had before. Guess he'll now see what it's all about. "I'll take your word for it."
Mobius
The Emerald Shrine was currently being occupied by its usual guardian Knuckles with Tails and Dr. Eggman nearby, using various devices to set up a communication center. They didn't really expect to not have a way to contact Sonic through interdimensional travel, for some reason. The red echidna honestly didn't mind the company, only tense due to the possible danger of the mad scientist.
"So, this machine will detect Sonic in this second world. What do you think it would be like?" He wonders out loud.
"It could be possible that he went to an alternate timeline where Shadow wasn't created." Dr. Eggman theorizes before muttering, "If so, perhaps there is one where Sonic doesn't exist..."
His thoughts was then interrupted as Tails spoke up, "And we are good to go!"
The two geniuses had finished their setup as Knuckles simply lets out a sigh, "Hope it actually works."
"Oh, it will." The Doctor reassures him, "I always have success with my inventions."
Tails and Knuckles were trying their best not to chuckle as the former boots up the new center, starting it up as the three watch it do its thing.
Equestria (Sonic)
The blue blur had only followed the train tracks for quite a bit at an average pace as he was traversing down the mountain under the early moonlight when he then hears a familiar click in his ear.
"He... So..."
His earpiece was now coming to life, making him reflexively press his finger on it to respond.
"Caught a flicker. Where are the sparks?"
Static was heard after moving his finger away, but he knows that it'll be working right in no time. With Tails and even Dr. Eggman there, the tech should be-
HONK!
He then hears a loud sound that he recognizes, turning his head to look behind himself to see a train moving towards him. Guess he slowed down enough for it to catch up, but he's still at a speed that outpaces it.
"That's convenient." He said out loud before jumping onto the mountainside and leaps onto the top of the second train car, "Hope they don't mind if I hitch a ride."
Now taking a break from running, he takes this time to look more at his surroundings and looks up towards the night sky. The moon was lit just right with the stars shining clear with no clouds to hide them. From the few times he has saw the night sky, it was always beautiful. Tonight is no different.
A familiar click snaps him out of his thoughts as it goes off in his ear again, followed by a kinda clear reception.
"...Sonic... are..."
Pressing his finger on the earpiece again, he responds.
"Sparks igniting an ember. Where's the fire?"
Again, he gets no response. Guess even with two geniuses, things aren't as simple as he thought it would be. So in short, he's on his own for now in this new land...
Won't be the first time.
Equestria (Ponyville)
After dealing with the Gala tickets yesterday, Shadow finds himself waking up with a slight headache that remained from that day. Truth be told, he isn't immune to getting sick, he just recovers much faster than a normal human thanks to his genetics. While staying in bed may help, he rather be doing something with his time.
Getting out of his bed and cleaning himself up a bit, he then goes downstairs to find only Spike there as he was doing his chores. The young dragon then sees him and greets him accordingly.
"Morning, Shadow."
"Morning, Spike." The black hedgehog greets right back, "Twilight busy today?"
"She's taking care of a few errands. Don't worry, she'll be back later." The young dragon answers as he was currently dusting the shelves.
"Need some help?" Shadow offers since he has nothing else to do, which Spike is pretty grateful for said offer. "Yeah, that'll be great!"
With the two working together, the chores were no contest as they finish up the dusting and went to sweeping. During this, Shadow was remembering the time they met Fluttershy and Spike wanting to tell her his life story before switching to just talking about his meeting with Shadow. He didn't think of it before, but this is a good opportunity to learn more about him.
"Hey, Spike." Shadow calls out, getting his attention. "What do you remember about your life? Before moving here, obviously."
"When we were in Canterlot?" Spike deduces before answering, "Well, I know I was born there. Believe it or not, Twilight's entrance exam to the School of Gifted Unicorns was to hatch a dragon egg with her magic, which was mine."
"Really?" Shadow finds that a rather strange requirement, "Did any other unicorns do this?"
Spike opens his mouth to answer, but immediately closes it after a moment to think. "Uh... I don't know. Never really thought about that."
"I see. Anyways, what was it like growing up?" He shifts the topic a bit to learn more.
"It's great! Her family is so nice. Her brother is actually the captain of the Canterlot guard and her parents are very supportive." The young dragon summarizes from memory.
"Wait, captain?" Shadow then recalls first arriving in Equestria and had a realization, "I've met him. Shining Armor, right?"
"Yeah, that's him!" Spike confirms, which the hedgehog finds pretty interesting.
Her brother was the first ever pony he met and then becomes the protector of his sister later on. There might be something there, but doesn't dwell on it as he hears Spike continue.
"Actually, you remind me of him a bit."
That made Shadow understandably curious, "How so?"
"Well, both of you are pretty protective." He has a point there as they finish up sweeping.
"Fair enough." Shadow agrees with it as the two put their brooms away.
"All right. That takes care of number two out of..." Spike casually comments as he rolls out a long scroll that reaches the floor.
Shadow wasn't sure how many he has, or why he has that many, but he'll try and help the best he can. Besides, it's a way to form a bond, right?
And done! Took a bit, but there are a few changes I recently thought of:
First, when it comes to the 'friendship letters', if the lesson is worded in a confusing way or even just flat out wrong, I'll gladly reword it to get said lesson across better. For example, the second sentence in the original episode is what I've interpreted as:
Twilight has made five friends that has changed her life for the better. She then gets two tickets to an event the five want to go to, but she can't decide who would go with her since she wants all of them to go. What she 'currently have' isn't enough to express her gratitude to them, which is why she decides that no one goes.
I also changed Princess Celestia's response since I didn't like how it was done. It definitely felt like she planned it, which is funny considering a certain episode later on says that forcing something isn't a natural way to learn. So, it makes sense that she just forgot as her mind has yet to adjust to the changes most likely due to habit.
And second, I recently realized how the show is structured and got an idea. Aside from the premieres and finales, much of the series is episodic. Which means I'll be shuffling things up a bit to keep things interesting. The plot important ones that have follow-ups are included in the shuffle. Basically, it just means some episodes might show up earlier than others and vice versa.
With all of that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter!